SCO-Afghanistan group resumes work at higher level, in extended format

MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization-Afghanistan contact group is resuming its work at a higher level and in an extended format, Russian President’s Special Envoy to the SCO Bakhtier Khakimov told TASS. "The group is resuming its work at the level of deputy foreign ministers and will convene in this format on a mandatory basis once a year," the diplomat said. The group, set up in 2005, suspended operations in 2009. It used to work at the level of permanent representatives of the member-states under the SCO Secretariat and representatives of Afghanistan’s Embassy in Beijing. The group is set to hold its first meeting in an extended format on October 11 in Moscow. "If earlier we met in the "six plus one" format, now that’s "eight plus one" (after India and Pakistan joined the SCO)," he said. Flow of gunmen from Syria to Afghanistan At its meeting, the contact group will focus on the flow of gunmen from Syria to Afghanistan. "According to the data, the IS groups are concentrating rather seriously now there and there are nearly 4,000 in their ranks. All of them are mainly staying in the northern areas," the diplomat said. Another burning issue is drug trafficking from Afghanistan’s territory, he noted. "No matter what they say, the production is continuing to grow," Khakimov said. "We have reliable data that the revenues from drug trade are seriously channeled to support the terrorists’ activity," he added. The third important issue is providing assistance to Afghanistan in restoring economy and achieving national reconciliation. "This issue is constantly included in the SCO final documents and one of the recent examples is the Astana declaration that stresses one more time that the SCO is in favor of a peaceful and independent Afghanistan, which is free from terrorism and is prosperous," he said. New format According to the presidential special envoy, the contact group won’t duplicate the work of any current negotiations platforms on Afghanistan. "As we understand, the experience of meetings in the so-called Moscow format showed that when neighboring states are involved that are mostly interested in peace, the result is better," he said. The SCO-Afghanistan contact group is set to find "additional and more efficient tools." Speaking on the idea of Washington’s joining the contact group, Khakimov recalled: "When the Moscow format was convened, no one told the Americans not to come, on the contrary, they expected and invited them, but Washington refused to participate." The diplomat did not rule out that new participants could join the format in the future, namely Iran and Turkmenistan, which already attend Moscow's consultations on Afghanistan. The Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was inked in China’s Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On June 9, 2017 India and Pakistan became full-fledged members of the SCO. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia currently enjoy observer status while Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners. Read more